March 2019

Colossians 4:2 – Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.James 4:8 – Come near to God and He will come near to you.

We are entering the season of Lent, a time of reflection on Jesus’ life leading to the cross. Prayer was a beautiful part of this process of his sacrifice. There are many examples including the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus spent a long time communing with God, even as he struggled to understand God’s plan. A strong prayer life should be an important part of ours too. “The point of prayer is not to get answers from God, but to have perfect and complete oneness with him.” I recently read this quote by Oswald Chambers and was deeply struck by the difference in perspective on a prayer life. How many of us settle into a routine in our prayer life of making requests for all the needs we are aware of and hopefully praising Him for answered prayers. While this is essential and valuable as Christians, our prayer lives should reflect a deeper connection with God, a time of oneness of spirit that allows us to grow in faith and to serve more faithfully. During Lent, let us seek to grow our prayer life in this direction, to pray as Jesus did.

GUIDED PRAYERHeavenly Father, we thank you for listening to us and being present to us in our prayers. Help us to grow our prayer life to include quiet communion with you, the Holy Spirit, to open our hearts to being filled with you.

As always, thank you Lois Powers for your writing and insights.

Prayer is the foundation of Friendswood Methodist.

The monthly prayer meditation is a monthly devotion and scripture guide to help new prayer warriors strengthen their prayer muscles and center seasoned prayer warriors in God's Holy Word. We offer an opportunity to develop a new habit to pray for our church family by praying over the prayer concerns. If you're not sure where to start, try one of our prayer tools.